Analysts Set Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Target Price at $173.57

Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $173.57.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Packaging Co. of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $187.00 to $191.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $183.00 to $181.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

PKG opened at $179.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.80. Packaging Co. of America has a 1 year low of $122.20 and a 1 year high of $191.27.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.21 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total value of $1,825,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total transaction of $2,507,681.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 187,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,975,365.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,041 shares of company stock worth $6,799,177 over the last three months. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Packaging Co. of America

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PKG. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1.2% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 5,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank lifted its position in Packaging Co. of America by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 1,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Company Profile

Packaging Corporation of America manufactures and sells containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment offers various containerboard and corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers used to protect and transport manufactured goods; multi-color boxes and displays that help to merchandise the packaged product in retail locations; and honeycomb protective packaging products, as well as packaging for meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, processed food, beverages, and other industrial and consumer products.